Saturday, April 20, 2013

WSBA World Peace through Law Section Newsletter April 2013

WSBA World Peace through Law Section

April 2013

April 26, 2013:Sunshine Over The Energy Wars: Home Solar In Washington State

Join us in this free webcast!

Join us for the second brown bag and webinar in our monthly series:"Sunshine Over the Energy Wars: Practical and Legal Aspects of Home Solar in Washington State."Some say the wars of this century will be sparked by resource and energy shortages. What can we and our clients do in a practical way to reduce this risk? What are the legal aspects?

A panel led by Kevin Moen of Solterra Systems will discuss the practical side of home solar (net energy production, how easy/hard to install) and the legal side (taxes, permits, restrictive covenants, what's going on in Olympia this year).When:

sections@wsba.org by April 22. Please indicate if you are attending in-person or via webinar.

Feel free to invite colleagues to view this program with you; they don't have to be Section members although if they like what they see, we hope they join the Section!

The handouts and other materials will be posted on the Event Materials page on the World Peace Through Law Section website.

Future Programs - Save The Date!WPTL plans to webcast on the final friday of each month, noon to 1 p.m. Webinars allow Section members who may live anywhere in our state or beyond to participate. We are actively recruiting panels for more subjects and welcome your suggestions. For more information about the sections and its activities, visit The Section Web Page.We hope to see you there!

Pro Bono Opportunities with Immigrants and Refugees:Yes You Can!

Jordan Wasserman

If you missed last month's webcast, "Pro Bono Opportunities with Immigrants and Refugees: Yes You Can!", don't worry! A recording and the handouts are now available on the Section's Course Materials page.

Watch Jordan S. Wasserman, pro bono coordinating attorney atNorthwest Immigrant Rights Project, and other attorneys describe how you can make an immediate contribution to the cause of peace by providing pro bono services to refugees and immigrants. Join them - you'll be glad you did!

In this program, attorney Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños discusses the legal basis of a right to peace and its successful use in litigation. Main topics include his successful litigation against governmental practices violating Costa Rica's "Peace Constitution," describe use of an international forum, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to protect and institutionalize the right to peace, and cooperation with Japanese lawyers and peace organizations to safeguard Article 9 ("Peace Article") of Japan's Constitution.Learn more here.

Please join us for a social immediately following the program. This program is open to the public but pre-registration is important to help with the head-count.

Women are the majority of humanity; women's rights are human rights and women's history is human history.

Fifty years after Betty Friedan'sThe Feminine Mystique first publicized "the problem that had no name" -- the widespread unhappiness of many women limited by traditional female roles and few options for meaningful work outside the family -- full equality for women has yet to be attained.

Learning the history can be helpful. Longtime Section member and author Robin Lindley has interviewed Professor Betsy West, executive producer Makers: Women Who Made America, the first major documentary on the history of the women's movement and how it has transformed our nation.

Every day, we meet or pass by survivors and victims of our failure to achieve peace through law. While the targets of our bombs and shells are a focus of our attention, We The People of These United States bear special responsibility to our service members, veterans and their families, who went at our order to do what they did.

That most readers of these words opposed those orders frees us from responsibility not at all. Yet today's professional military is separate from most civilians, in some ways a caste of untouchables whose experiences we cannot understand although we try to sympathesize and help.

In this context, let me recommend the award-winning play Black Watch, which runs in Seattle April 25 - May 5th. Based on interviews with the men of one of the oldest and proudest infantry divisions in the world, sent to Iraq at the height of the insurgency, it provides insight into the military subculture. Understanding is necessary to effective service for peace! Post-show programs feature conversations with cast and service members; the May 5th post-show features Congressman and Navy veteran Jim McDermott, winner of this Section's Ralph Bunche Award for his opposition to the invasion and other work for peace through law. I hope to see you there!--- REW

This is a publication of a section of the Washington State Bar Association. All opinions and comments represent the views of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by WSBA, its officers or agents.